Le Mans-winning Ford GT40 takes the field at the 2014 Hampton Court Concours of Elegance

Bruce McLaren at the wheel of the 1966 Le Mans-winning GT40 Mk II. Photos courtesy From Motor Company Archives.

Wrecked, designated for transmission testing, and modified for street use, the 1966 Ford GT40 with chassis number P/1046 might not have initially had the retirement befitting a car that famously won the 24 Hours of Le Mans. But it’s now back in its Le Mans livery and will once again go under the spotlight at this fall’s London’s Hampton Court Concours of Elegance.

Driven by Bruce McLaren and Chris Amon at Le Mans in 1966, P/1046 wasn’t supposed to win the race. When it was clear in the closing laps that Ford GT40s would occupy the first, second and third positions (delivering the ultimate insult to Ferrari, which saw just two privateer teams in the top 10), the race-leading car of Ken Miles and Denny Hulme was asked to slow up and allow the GT 40s of McLaren / Amon and Ronnie Bucknum / Dick Hutcherson to form rank. Ford’s intent was to have all three cars cross the line simultaneously, signifying that a car, not a particular driver, had won the race. Le Mans sanctioning body Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) would have none of this, as in its eyes, every race needed to have a declared winner. Though Miles’s car had been ahead in the closing laps, McLaren’s car was ruled to have traveled eight meters farther in the equivalent time, so it was awarded the victory.

Ford’s 1-2-3 finish at Le Mans in 1966.

Both Miles and team manager Carroll Shelby were vocal in their displeasure, but Henry Ford II was overjoyed with the result. Following the race, chassis P/1046 was immediately flown to New York with drivers McLaren and Amon for a press conference, which would be the car’s only (brief) moment in the limelight. Despite the car’s significance to Ford history, it was returned to Shelby American, where it was unceremoniously used for transmission testing before being shipped to Holman-Moody for further testing and program development. Under Holman-Moody’s stewardship, the car received a new interior, a shorter tail section and a full roll cage (becoming the first GT40 to carry this now-mandated bit of safety equipment).

Sprayed in a reverse livery of silver with black stripes (as opposed the black paint with silver stripes the car had worn at Le Mans), Holman-Moody entered the car at Daytona in 1967 with drivers Denny Hulme and Lloyd Ruby. Ruby was behind the wheel on lap 300 when the car was involved in a race-ending crash; sadly, it was to be the car’s final racetrack appearance, excluding later vintage events.

As documented by The World Registry of Cobras and GT40s, P/1046 was returned to Holman-Moody following its Daytona outing, where it was repaired for use in a traveling Ford / Hathaway Shirts promotion. In late May of 1968, it was once again shipped back to Holman-Moody, which parted out the race-winning GT40 to support its ongoing competition efforts. In 1968, the car’s stripped chassis was sold to David Brown, who owned it for about a year before selling it to Ed Zamarelli, who contracted with Holman-Moody to build it into a street-legal supercar.

This period was not P/1046’s finest hour. Equipped with gadgetry such as a closed-circuit television camera (mounted in a roof blister) to provide rearward visibility, the car was sprayed in a late-1960s chic metalflake gold with black accent livery. In 1973, the car’s next owner, Steve Juda, returned it to Holman-Moody for conversion into standard GT40 Mk II specifications (though its color at this time is not documented), and Juda retained possession until 1978.

Chassis P/1046’s next owner was Bob Richman, who purchased it as part of a package deal that included two additional GT40s. Later shipped to Belgium (likely for resale in the European market), the car spent the next three years crated in a warehouse before being acquired (also as part of a package deal) by its current owner, George Stauffer, in 1983.

It was Stauffer who realized that part of his lot included the 1966 race-winning GT40, and he set about restoring the car to its 1966 Le Mans livery. It’s configured much as it was in June of 1966 as well, including the period-correct 485hp 427-cu.in. V-8 mounted aft of the driver, but in the interest of safety, the car carries the full roll cage installed by Holman-Moody in late 1966, after the car’s Le Mans win. Featured in the June 2007 issue of Hemmings Muscle Machines, chassis P/1046 continues to be campaigned by Stauffer at the occasional vintage racing event, as well as shown at the occasional concours d’elegance. Mindful of the car’s historical significance (and of his own ability as a driver), the GT40’s current owner is careful to stay within his limits to preserve the car for future generations. In retrospect, it’s likely that Ford now wishes it had been equally protective of the car.

The Hampton Court Concours of Elegance will take place September 5-7 at London’s Hampton Court Palace. For additional details, visit ConcoursOfElegance.co.uk.

CoolBreezsays:

May 29, 2014 9:10 am

unclehotrod13says:

May 29, 2014 9:24 am

Way back in 1979 I worked at a place called GrandPrix SSR out on long island they sold and restored cars.. they had a blue one of these ..what a monster!! They had just finished a resto on it..i remember sitting in it..closing the door and giving myself a haircut!man thats a low roofline!

Don Homuthsays:

May 29, 2014 10:15 am

That roof blister you see above the driver’s side (on the RH side) was not part of the initial design, but was built in because Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt were too tall to fit inside their LM car. It just sort of carried over into other cars.

June 29, 2014 11:44 am

Alan Millssays:

May 29, 2014 9:58 am

I’ll never forget the 1,2,3 win in the 66 LeMans. Watched it on Wide World Of Sports, at the time the only way a motorhead could get our motor sports on TV; and usually recorded Nascar races or NHRA events. It was one of the best days in my young life. Many years later though, I was bitterly dissapointed when I found out Ken Miles lost the number one spot so Mr. Ford could have his little show. At the time I was so excited with the outcome I didn’t pay attention to the details. Hey, I was 12. But thanks to my older brother who got me interested in cars and took me to the drags, I got into motor sports when my friends were flipping baseball cards.

Don Homuthsays:

May 29, 2014 10:20 am

No question, it’s a simply stunning design. HFII had it developed because Enzo wouldn’t sell Ferrari to him, so he decided to spend whatever it took to beat Ferrari at the game. And as AJ Foyt so insightfully once said, “There is no substitute for cubic inches.”

Still and all, I remain personally even more attracted to the Lola T70 coupe which was an ancestor of the GT40. Those just sort of disappeared once the Ford showed up, but Lowered — they got the attention of a young motorhead at the time.

Daniel Strohlsays:

May 29, 2014 4:35 pm

Norm Murdocksays:

May 29, 2014 10:21 am

Miles was a notorious curmudgeon, and he slit his own throat on this finish. He braked on the front straight to allow McLaren to physically cross the line first. Ford nor Shelby told him to do that. He did it to “protest” their team orders in a fit of pique. That was dumb. 8 Meters is around 1-1/2 car lengths, which just happens to be about the exact amount Ken was behind at the finish line! If he had just done as he was told and finished in echelon formation at the “line”, he’d have won the race. But he got emotional. McLaren wasn’t “racing” him to the finish line and would have stayed in place behind his teammate had Miles not braked and ruined his own day. Later, when asked to explain, Miles claimed he thought he was a full lap ahead of the field, and that’s why he felt he could brake and finish a physical second while still “winning” the race. Some team timekeepers agreed with Miles, but not the official ACO timers. This was self-inflicted agony all the way round.

Al Fergussonsays:

May 29, 2014 10:48 am

I graduated university in 1967 and was at a new grads meeting at COB of Ford of Canada later that year. Carl Scott who was then president of Ford of Canada had just returned from being one of the key participants in negiotating the Auto Trade Pact between Canada and the US and was chairing the meeting. Leo Beebe, fresh from his victories at Le Mans, was the keynote speaker and was mobbed by us grads after his presentation while Mr Scott stood alone in the corner. Shows where our real interests were.

Frank Comstocksays:

May 29, 2014 8:52 pm

Al,

I was hoping to see someone mention Leo Beebe. After retiring from Ford in the early 1970s, Leo went on to be a professor of Marketing at what is now Rowan University. Leo was one of my professors there in the middle 1970s and he and I spent many an hour discussing his racing triumphs, as well as his successes at Ford and the fact he was an advisor to half-a-dozen or so Presidents. I’ve recently been given access to Leo’s papers and as a freelance writer, I’m working on several articles about him.

If I could make a bet, I’d say the speech you heard included little about himself, with all the praise going to the team. Leo was an early proponent of the team concept anywhere in business and he knew he was successful only through the success of those he led.

May 29, 2014 10:52 am

Kurt Ernstsays:

May 29, 2014 11:21 am

Paul, all GT40s were mid-engine, rear drive, with the engine mounted behind (aft of) the driver. My period-correct comment refers to the engine used in P/1046, as the original one has been lost to time.

Ted Robisonsays:

May 29, 2014 7:52 pm

I was stationed in France in 1966 with the US Air Force. We attended the 1966 Le Mans. 9 Months earlier I had picked up my 56 Olds from the French port and on the way back to our base the we ran the public part of Le Mans. Don’t think our times matched the GT40 times. Right after the 66 Le Mans we attended the Paris Autoshow. They had a GT40 there that was labeled as the race winner. Laid a hand on it. Now looks like it was the wrong one.

art smithsays:

May 29, 2014 9:35 pm

Hi all! How cool this is!!! I was actully at this race in 1966 with an Air Force friend from Spain! I was stationed in Rota, Spain then on the USS Holland, AS-32, a Polaris Sub Tender!!! I had back then a really neat 1966 1275cc, Austin Cooper S, twin tanks, R-6 Dunlops tires, sump gd,bought new from the factory and delivered to Cadiz, Spain. Also 2 of our British gal friends were with us also, we had picked them up in Le Havre, before going to the race!! Treasured memories forever!! Have really neat large $$ # 2 Ford model and a matching neat 1/43rd too!! Regards to all from art smith, x DM1, USNR and a retired chip designer with 34 yrs. exp!!

larry Youngsays:

May 29, 2014 9:36 pm

Mike Wettengalsays:

July 7, 2015 8:44 am

My hands were all over this car in the late 80’s when I returned to the US from Auto Body school at Robert-Bosch Schule in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany. We worked under Jeff Dodge for Stauffer Classics, and in addition to this car we did body kits, DeTomasos, Shelbys and Cobras. Good times. Where are you Steve and Jimmy?

Adam Behnkesays:

August 30, 2015 7:36 pm

I bumped into Jimmy today at Carbs & Coffee in Cottage Grove, WI. He was driving a production Peter Fonda “easy rider” edition Harley Davidson. He told me many stories about restoring a 1966 gt40(Le Mans winner) in a storage unit in Madison back in the late 80’s. He said he worked on that car for 3 straight days, 24 hrs/day to get it ready. Now he teaches fabrication classes at MATC in Cambridge, WI.